Fire

FIRE LOSSES

Great strides have been made in constructing fire resistant buildings, reducing the incidence of fires and improving fire suppression techniques. However, in terms of property losses, these advances have been somewhat offset by increases in the number and value of buildings. According to the National Fire Protection Association, in 2013, on average, a fire department responded to a fire every 25 seconds in the United States. A structure fire occurs every 65 seconds; a residential fire occurs every 85 seconds and an outside property fire occurs every 56 seconds.

FIRE LOSSES IN THE UNITED STATES, 2004-2013 (1)

Year

Property loss ($ millions)

Loss per capita (2)

2004

$17,344

$59.23

2005

20,427

69.12

2006

20,340

68.17

2007

24,399

81.00

2008

24,734

81.34

2009

22,911

74.68

2010

20,486

66.23

2011

19,511

62.62

2012

23,977

76.39

2013

19,301

61.05

(1) Including allowances for FAIR Plan and uninsured losses.
(2) Calculated by the Insurance Information Institute using ISO property loss and population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division.

FIRE LOSSES IN THE UNITED STATES, BY LINE OF INSURANCE, 2013 (1)

STRUCTURE FIRES

There are about a half million fires in structures each year, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). In 2013, 79 percent of structure fires were in residential properties and 21 percent were in non-residential structures, including storage facilities, stores and offices, and industrial properties, and public assembly. Public assembly fires include fires in eating and drinking places and other entertainment venues, houses of worship and other places where people congregate. There are approximately 7,600 structure fires in eating and drinking establishments each year, according to a NFPA report based on data between 2006 and 2010.

According to the NFPA, fires in nightclubs are among the most deadly public occupancy fires, because they contain a large number of people in one main space. In January, 2013 a deadly nightclub fire in Brazil claimed over 230 lives, making it one of the most deadly nightclub fires on record. The deadliest nightclub fire in world history was the 1903 Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago, Illinois in which 602 people were killed, followed by a 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston, Massachusetts which claimed 492 lives and a fire at the Conway's Theater in Brooklyn, New York in 1876 which killed 285 people. The 2003 Station Fire in Rhode Island claimed 100 lives, and ranks as number eight. The complete top ten ranking is posted at NFPA: Nightclub Fires.

STRUCTURE FIRES, 2004-2013 (1)

Year

Number of fires

Year

Number of fires

2004

526,000

2009

480,500

2005

511,000

2010

482,000

2006

524,000

2011

484,500

2007

530,500

2012

480,500

2008

515,000

2013

487,500

(1) Includes public assembly, educational, institutional and residential structures, stores and offices, industry, utility, defense, storage and special structures.

(1) Estimates based on data reported by fire departments responding to the 2013 National Fire Experience Survey. May exclude reports from all fire departments.
(2) Includes overall direct property loss to contents, structures, vehicles, machinery, vegetation or any other property involved in a fire. Excludes indirect losses, such as business interruption or temporary shelter costs.
(3) Less than 0.1 percent.
(4) Includes manufactured homes.
(5) Includes hotels and motels, college dormitories, boarding houses, etc.
(6) Excludes incidents handled only by private brigades or fixed suppression systems.

(1) Includes manufactured homes.
(2) Includes hotels and motels, college dormitories, boarding houses, etc.
(3) Includes public assembly, educational, institutional, store and office, industry, utility, storage and special structure properties.
(4) Less than 0.1 percent.
(5) Includes trains, boats, ships, farm vehicles and construction vehicles.
(6) Includes outside properties with value, as well as brush, rubbish and other outside locations.

(1) Loss estimates are from National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) records. The list is limited to fires for which some reliable dollar loss estimates exists.
(2) Adjustment to 2013 dollars made by the NFPA using the Consumer Price Index, including the U.S. Census Bureau's estimates of the index for historical times.
(3) Differs from inflation-adjusted estimates made by other organizations due to the use of different deflators.

LARGE LOSS FIRES

March 25, 2011, marked the 100-year anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. The blaze that swept through a New York City sweatshop killing 146 garment workers ushered in a new era of fire safety in the American workplace, according to the National Fire Protection Association. The September 11, 2001, World Trade Center conflagration was the deadliest, as well as the most costly, building fire in U.S. history.

THE TWENTY DEADLIEST LARGE-LOSS FIRES IN THE UNITED STATES (1)

Rank

Date

Event

Location

Fatalities

1

Sep. 11, 2001

The World Trade Center

New York, NY

2,666

2

Dec. 30, 1903

Iroquois Theatre

Chicago, IL

602

3

Nov. 28, 1942

Cocoanut Grove night club

Boston, MA

492

4

Apr. 21, 1930

Ohio State Penitentiary

Columbus, OH

320

5

Mar. 18, 1937

Consolidated School gas explosion

New London, TX

294

6

Dec. 5, 1876

Conway's Theatre

Brooklyn, NY

285

7

Apr. 23, 1940

Rhythm Club

Natchez, MS

207

8

Mar. 4, 1908

Lakeview Grammar School

Collinwood, OH

175

9

Jan. 12, 1908

Rhodes Opera House

Boyertown, PA

170

10

Jul. 6, 1944

Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus

Hartford, CT

168

10

Apr. 19, 1995

Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building

Oklahoma City, OK

168

12

May 28, 1977

Beverly Hills Supper Club

Southgate, KY

165

13

Mar. 25, 1911

Triangle Shirtwaist Company

New York, NY

146

14

Apr. 10, 1917

Eddystone Ammunition Company plant explosion

Eddystone, PA

133

15

May 15, 1929

Cleveland Clinic Hospital

Cleveland, OH

125

16

Dec. 7, 1946

Winecoff Hotel

Atlanta, GA

119

17

Feb. 20, 2003

The Station Nightclub

W. Warwick, RI

100

18

Dec. 1, 1958

Our Lady of the Angels School

Chicago, IL

95

19

Mar. 25, 1990

Happy Land Social Club

New York, NY

87

20

Nov. 21, 1980

MGM Grand Hotel

Las Vegas, NV

85

(1) Based on deadliest single-builiding or complex fires and explosions.

Source: National Fire Protection Association.

HOLIDAY FIRE LOSSES

Fireworks

On Independence Day in a typical year, far more U.S. fires are reported than on any other day, and fireworks account for two out of five of those fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Fireworks caused an estimated 17,800 reported fires, including 1,200 total structure fires, 400 vehicle fires, and 16,300 outside and other fires in 2011, according to a fireworks fact sheet from the NFPA. Key stats include:

In 2011, U.S. hospital emergency rooms treated an estimated 9,600 people for fireworks related injuries; 61 percent of 2011 emergency room fireworks-related injuries were to the extremities and 34 percent were to the head.

The risk of fireworks injury was highest for children ages 5-19, and adults 25-44 in an atypical year of a very comparable risk across much of the population.

Home Fires

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) says Thanksgiving Day is the leading day for home cooking fires, with three times as many occurring on Thanksgiving as any other day of the year. In 2010, there were 1,370 fires on Thanksgiving, a 219 percent increase over the daily average.

U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated annual average of 230 home structure fires that began with Christmas trees from 2007 to 2011, according to a fact sheet from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

Home Christmas tree fires caused an average of six civilian deaths, 22 civilian injuries and $18.3 million in direct property damage annually from 2007 to 2011.

Electrical failures or malfunctions were involved in about one-third (32 percent) of the home Christmas tree structure fires. One in six (17 percent) occurred because some type of heat source was too close to the tree. Decorative lights were involved in 12 percent of these incidents. Seven percent of home Christmas tree fires were started by candles.

The top three days for home candle fires were Christmas, New Year’s Day and Christmas Eve, according to another NFPA fact sheet.

During the five-year-period of 2007-2011, the NFPA estimates that decorations were the item first ignited in an estimated average of 920 reported home structure fires per year. These fires caused an estimated average of six civilian deaths, 47 civilian injuries and $12.9 million in direct property damage per year, according to an NFPA fact sheet.